The style of Kung Fu known as Praying Mantis (Tanglang Quan 螳螂拳) or just Mantis for short, is probably one of the most visually identifiable styles of Chinese martial art, due to the prolific use of Mantis hooks in its forms. It is a style that many people will be familiar with its origin story too, that of a man named Wang Lang (王朗) who was inspired by a mantis catching a cicada to develop a new style that he could use to beat his opponent in a challenge match.
While the story of Wang Lang is a myth which can provide us with some insights into the thoughts and ideals of the early masters, it seems unlikely it is a factually accurate account. In fact, most martial arts scholars struggle to verify the existence of Wang Lang, or even how Mantis was created, leaving much of its early history shrouded in mystery.
One early reference to the art of Mantis is the book “Robe and Bowl Transmission of Shaolin” (Shaolin Yibo Zhenchuan 少林衣钵真传) written by an unknown person who went by the pen name Heavenly Ascended Taoist (Shengxiao Daoren 生肖道人). Little is known about the origin of this text, except it seemed to be reasonably widespread in the Shandong peninsula during the early to mid Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). The manual lays out a lot of the foundational theory for what would become Mantis, as well as illustrations of various fighting applications, as well as the Luohan Gong (罗汉功), a Qigong set which is still practiced in many lineages to this day.
The first verifiable history we have is that of a man named Liang Xue Xiang (梁学香) who lived in Haiyang county from 1810-1895. From what we can gather, he was most likely the first person to openly teach the style to multiple people. Not too much is known about his life, some stories suggest that he was a sickly child and couldn’t even lift a sack of grain. His family sent him to learn martial arts in order to strengthen his body so that he could survive the harsh rural life. According to my own teacher, Zhou Zhen Dong (周振东), Liang worked as an armed escort safeguarding goods being transported to the capital. During this time, he honed his martial arts, and even lost one eye in a spear fight.
He also wrote three manuscripts, laying out the main forms, methods and concepts of his system. Interestingly, he does attribute Wang Lang as being the founder, but says little more. He does not even mention his own teacher, although the majority of other sources agree that he learnt from Zhao Zhu (赵珠). In the older of the three manuscripts, Liang says that Wang Lang created the forms of Luan Jie, Fen Shen Ba Zhou, and the “secret hands”, a list of single fighting techniques. In his later manuscript, he adds in Beng Bu, although gives no details as to where it came from. What’s interesting to note, is that in his manuscripts, he devotes equal attention to empty hand, weapons and Qigong, although for the sake of this article, we will focus on the empty hand methods.
So what are these three forms?
Luan Jie （乱接）
The first form Liang lists, is Luan Jie, commonly translated as “chaotically connected”, and contains 36 foundational techniques for the Mantis system. Liang describes the form as “strikes linking together like stiches on a sleeve”. Later generations came to refer to Luan Jie as “the mother form”, or “36 mother techniques”.
Beng Bu (崩补)
While this form is commonly referred to as the foundational form within the Seven Star lineage of Mantis, Liang didn’t include it in his first manuscript, and only added it later. However, we don’t know if this means he created the form himself, or learnt it elsewhere and added it in. Both have been speculated. While nowadays, the form is generally written as 蹦步, meaning “bursting step”, most of the older manuscripts write it as 崩补, meaning “to collapse and to adhere”.
Fen Shen Ba Zhou (分身八肘)
Commonly referred to by its shorter name, Ba Zhou, the full name translates as “dividing the body into eight joints”. The word “zhou” in Chinese technically refers to any joint in the body, but is usually used for the elbow, leading many to misunderstand that this form is a collection of eight elbow techniques. The name actually means to use all eight joints of the body to strike: wrists, elbows, shoulders and knees.
It was the generation after Liang that the various different branches of Mantis began to appear. Seven Star, Taiji/Plum Blossom, and Six Harmony, all took form towards the latter part of the 19th century. That’s not to say they all came from Liang – it seems like Taiji and Plum Blossom are the only two that did. There were seemingly others around who were already teaching this art, although they did not leave any written records. As this author is a practitioner of Taiji Mantis, the remainder of this article will focus on that.
Liang had several prominent students, one of which was Jiang Hua Long (姜化龙). Jiang developed a big reputation in the area, and taught in Laiyang, Yantai and even up north in Dalian for a period. There are many stories of his exploits, and not always positive ones. Jiang was known for liking a good fight, and he would challenge pretty much anyone who had their own following. He made a lot of enemies this way, as people’s livelihoods were dependent on having a lot of students.
Quan Zhong Zhai Yao (拳中摘要)
Jiang’s influence on the development of Mantis cannot be overstated. Through his friendship with Long Fist practitioner, Li Dan Bai, as well as with Song Zi De (who later went on to found Taiji Mantis), the quintessential Mantis set Quan Zhong Zhai Yao came about. Commonly shortened to just Zhai Yao, the name of the form means “essentials of boxing”, and distilled everything from the older forms, the secret hands, as well as some techniques from Li’s own system, such as Fan Che, Ba Fang Quan, and some ground boxing.
The period towards the end of the 19th century was by far the one which saw the greatest innovation in Mantis. Aside from the developments made by Jiang Hua Long to create the art which become known variously as Taiji Mantis, Plum Blossom Mantis, or Taiji-Plum Blossom Mantis, it is also the time when many other famous masters were innovating in the Shandong peninsula. Although nowadays, we tend to dogmatically stick to our own lineages, insisting we are all the most pure, or most correct, the reality is that back then, the great masters we all aspire to were constantly exchanging with each other as they developed their own unique styles.
